Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) Plans Dividend Increase – $0.45 Per Share

Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of 0.445 per share by the apparel retailer on Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This is a 9.9% increase from Ross Stores’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41.

Ross Stores has increased its dividend by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 6 years. Ross Stores has a payout ratio of 23.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Ross Stores to earn $6.68 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.62 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 24.3%.

Ross Stores Trading Up 8.0%

ROST opened at $213.52 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 0.90. Ross Stores has a fifty-two week low of $122.36 and a fifty-two week high of $216.80. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $192.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $171.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.30, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.97.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 3rd. The apparel retailer reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $6.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.42 billion. Ross Stores had a net margin of 9.43% and a return on equity of 37.43%. Ross Stores’s revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.65 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Ross Stores will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ROST. Pure Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ross Stores during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $234,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group increased its stake in Ross Stores by 23.5% during the 4th quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 2,955 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock valued at $534,000 after purchasing an additional 562 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in Ross Stores during the fourth quarter worth $78,000. Reflection Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Ross Stores in the fourth quarter valued at $1,095,000. Finally, Sankala Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ross Stores during the fourth quarter valued at about $221,000. 86.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Ross Stores

Ross Stores, Inc (NASDAQ: ROST) is an American off‑price retailer headquartered in Dublin, California, that operates the Ross Dress for Less and dd’s DISCOUNTS store formats. The company sells a broad assortment of apparel, footwear, home fashions, accessories and other soft goods, positioning itself as a value-oriented destination for brand‑name and fashion merchandise at reduced prices.

Ross’s business model centers on opportunistic buying of excess inventory, closeouts, cancelled orders and overstocks from manufacturers, department stores and other suppliers.